Hoping someone might have experience with a sheet metal brake Enco has on sale now. Model #CL130-50001, 36" x 16 Gage, 405 lbs., it is on sale for $388.95 with free shipping, regular price was $569.95. This is advertised as having cast iron construction.

I have been looking at the 48" x 16 gage that many retailers are selling, (Grizzly, Harbor Freight, Northern Hydraulics, Woodward, etc.) that are welded steel construction. I have some reservations how capable these are of bending 16 gage. A 36" brake would suit my needs well. Although being 12" shorter the 36" is about 50# higher.

Any thoughts?
Thanks

hardtail

07-22-2009, 11:15 AM

I can't say I've ever seen either model but your thinking is one the right track.......I'd be much more comfortable parting with my cash for the smaller heavier model.......that one sounds more like how they're supposed to be built.....I've often wondered if the way they rate those offshore things is entirely accurate??????

The good news is a small piece of Caterpillar is coming back to America with the small one...........LOL

Ries

07-22-2009, 11:46 AM

Thats a copy of a Di-Acro, and it is a better, heavier design than a lot of the import brakes. Havent seen one in person, so I couldnt comment on the fit and finish, but I think its a good deal for the price.

http://www.diacro.com/diacro_products/diacro_finger_brakes.html

A used real Di-Acro will often go for 4 times what Enco wants. New, I shudder to think, but well over 2 grand would be my guess. Of course, real ones are made in america, have good quality tool steel fingers, which are heat treated, have quality bearings, and so on.

I would not expect to be able to bend 36" of 16 gage steel with it very easily, though. You would need to bolt it to an extremely heavy bench, or better yet, a bench that is bolted to the floor.
I have a 2000lb Chicago 12 gage finger brake, a huge industrial brute- and its still serious work to bend a 4' piece of 16 gage.
With this small brake, narrower pieces should be fine, but I would take its maximum capacity rating with a grain of salt.

dfw5914

07-22-2009, 02:42 PM

I've used one, and as Ries said, that 16ga rating is pretty optimistic. 18ga is more like it.
The one I used crowned badly on wider parts. Construction quality is what one would expect in that price range. For occasional hobby use, I'd say it is worth the price, just keep your expectations low.

34Ford

07-22-2009, 08:47 PM

Thats a copy of a Di-Acro, and it is a better, heavier design than a lot of the import brakes. Havent seen one in person, so I couldnt comment on the fit and finish, but I think its a good deal for the price.

http://www.diacro.com/diacro_products/diacro_finger_brakes.html

A used real Di-Acro will often go for 4 times what Enco wants. New, I shudder to think, but well over 2 grand would be my guess. Of course, real ones are made in america, have good quality tool steel fingers, which are heat treated, have quality bearings, and so on.

I would not expect to be able to bend 36" of 16 gage steel with it very easily, though. You would need to bolt it to an extremely heavy bench, or better yet, a bench that is bolted to the floor.
I have a 2000lb Chicago 12 gage finger brake, a huge industrial brute- and its still serious work to bend a 4' piece of 16 gage.
With this small brake, narrower pieces should be fine, but I would take its maximum capacity rating with a grain of salt.

Thank you for your reply.
With this style brake, how is the material clamped in place? I don't see any levers or the like to actuate clamping.

GT1

07-22-2009, 09:44 PM

I have the Enco 48" bench finger brake. I have used it mostly for 0.030 to 0.040" aluminum and it has worked very well. I have bent a few pieces of 0.035 steel that were short and it also worked well. Given the size and construction differences between the ones at work and this one I would never bend 16 gage (0.060) steel with the Enco and expect the same results. The Enco is a copy of a Pexto with basically the same mechanism used to clamp the metal. The Enco website looks like they have a manual online for 36" model.

Doug

Ries

07-22-2009, 11:03 PM

The smaller lever on the right is the clamping lever.
Its about 8" long, on this brake.
The two longer levers facing down are the ones that move the bending leaf.

ttok

07-23-2009, 07:59 PM

Guys -

I sort of have mixed emotions about this brake. Hate to see Di-Acro have their design copied in China. Di-Acro is still a viable American manufacturer and deserves all our support! Up till now, I have not seen a Chinese copy of any of their stuff.

I have a Di-Acro 36" finger brake. The Enco brake appears to be 65 lbs. lighter than the corresponding Di-Acro model, but it is obviously a copy, so it must have less metal in the base casting. Also note that it has "bronze bushings" where the Di-Acro brake has roller bearings (hold-down bar) and needle bearings (folding bar).

I would be interested in seeing the fingers for this brake. These have not been available from Di-Acro for quite a while. This appears to be a copy of Di-Acro's newest brake design (may use the same new-type fingers, but cannot tell from the Enco cat. photo). I wonder whether extra fingers will be available - would be sorely tempted to buy a couple to modify for short-run projects! (That explains the mixed emotions!)

A.T.

34Ford

07-23-2009, 10:12 PM

Well I placed an order for the Enco 36" finger brake. It originally was priced at $569.95 + shipping. Early this week it went on sale for $388.95 with free shipping. Today received an email from Enco announcing a 2 day sale with 20% everything. So now the brake is at $311.16 with free shipping. I decided to take a chance and I ordered it. Hopefully it will meet my hobby needs.

Thanks to all that provided constructine comments.

neonman

07-24-2009, 06:48 PM

34, how did you get the free shipping? was it included as part of the sale?
I've been lusting for one of those 4 drawer intermediate deep tool drawer cabinets. The WEBSALE brings the price down , but it isn't usable with the free shiping code...

Neonman

34Ford

07-24-2009, 07:09 PM

neonman,

I received an email from Enco earlier this week announcing to look at their new ENCO OUTLET. It lists Closeouts and Overstocks with woodworking and metalworking machinery having free shipping. I do not know how to attach this link so hoping if you go to the Enco site you can locate the ENCO OUTLET link.